Urban Decay Naked Palettes: Palette Collection Review Series

Urban Decay is where my palette collection started. Basic2 was the first I ever bought and so it has a special place in my heart. I was originally going to separate these palettes out in the series, but since they are all Naked Palettes I figured I would keep it all together.What it does
Naked Basics –  A multipurpose MATTE companion to Naked. It’s the palette EVERY woman needs in her beauty arsenal. (UrbanDecay.com)

Naked Basics 2 – An indispensable palette with six TAUPE-hued matte neutrals.(UrbanDecay.com)

Naked Smoky – Loaded with ALL the essentials you need for the perfect neutral smoky eye. (UrbanDecay.com)

Price
Naked Basics (2) – $36 CAD (6 x 0.05) each, Naked Smoky – $66 CAD (12 x 0.05)

I remember when I was looking for a palette the basics were the cheapest available so that was why I picked it up. Today I would have probably just purchased the Naked palette (the 12 pan palette) but I actually like these smaller palettes for travelling. Packaging
I like the hard plastic casing in these palettes. It makes it easy to travel with and I don’t have to be too careful when storing them I can just throw them into my makeup case.

The packaging on the Smoky is one of my faves because it is a clear case with grey/black marbling on it to make it look like smoke.

Colour Selection
The Basics are neutral, matte, easy everyday shades. I don’t know how they compare to the 12-pan palettes but these two are pretty similar in colour. Yes, the Basics2 feels a bit more taupe and I personally this one out of the two but it’s not too much different than the first Basics that you necessarily need both. I wish that the colour selection was a bit different so that if you did have both palettes like I do, they could be used to create very different looks.

The smoky has a really great range of colours to create a variety of looks. There are some cool tones and warm tones to compliment whatever look you are going for. It has browns, silvers and navy colours in both shimmer and matte finishes.

Application
Whenever I dip my brushes into these palettes the amount of powder they kick up is quite annoying. Granted, the powdery-ness does make these really easy to blend onto the eyes. I mostly gravitate towards the Basics2 for every day and use only two colours, stark all over the lid and cover in the crease.

In the look above I used Foxy (Basics) all over my lid and built my crease with a little Frisk (Basics 2) in the crease. I then put dirtysweet (Smoky) all over my lid and lower lashline and radar (Smoky) to deepen the crease. I then put high (smoky) in the inner corner skimp (Basics 2) on my browbone.

Wear & Longevity
I used to wear these shadows without primer and it surprisingly would last long for my simple everyday look. Whenever I’m using the darker shades and putting more colour into my crease I always use primer. I do like the way these wear, however, I find that it does gather in my crease.

 The Breakdown:

Pros

• good everyday shadows
• perfect base for any eyeshadow look
• Basics are easy to travel with

Cons

• Very Powdery
• Basics are very similar in shades and not too much range in colours

My Thoughts
I love the smoky palette because it is great for creating dramatic looks. In regards to the Naked Basics, I use the colours as a base to a lot of my eye makeup looks and I love carrying these around whenever I travel.

Do you own these palettes? What do you think of the Urban Decay Naked sets?
Lots of Love,
Dalia